The invention relates to firearms, and it relates more particularly to a trigger-blocking magazine-safety system for auto-loading pistols having a trigger-cocking mechanism in which a pivoted hammer is cocked when the trigger is pulled. In accordance with one aspect of the invention a utility spring is provided which combines the functions of three separate springs: one for returning the trigger when it is released following a triggering cycle; one for resiliently maintaining the cocking link or draw-bar in engagement with the hammer; and one for actuating a safety member in order to positively prevent firing the pistol when the cartridge magazine is not in the pistol.
A so-called magazine safety is a device which is actuated upon removal of the cartridge magazine to block or disconnect the trigger mechanism so that the gun can be fired only when the magazine is in place. The purpose of rendering the gun incapable of firing without the cartridge magazine is to prevent those accidental shootings which occur because people not versed in gun safety or operation may believe the gun is completely unloaded when the magazine is withdrawn, whereas actually a round is still in the chamber. Additionally, a magazine safety allows the gun owner to keep his gun ready for self-defense yet safe from unauthorized use during brief periods when it may be left unattended. There are also people, particularly among the elderly and handicapped, who find it difficult to retract the slide of a semi-automatic pistol in order to ready the weapon for firing. A magazine safety permits such people to safely keep a round in the chamber at all times by removing the magazine so that the gun can not be fired by children or others who may gain unauthorized access to it. The gun can nevertheless be quickly brought to a state of readiness by simply inserting the cartridge magazine, which can be kept in a safe place on one's person or elsewhere.
A magazine safety which blocks the trigger, as distinguished from disconnecting it, is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,296,998 to E. F. Koehler. In this case the blocking member is actuated by a spring which is depressed when the blocking member is moved out of its blocking position as the magazine is inserted into the pistol. Unlike the present invention, however, the only function of this spring is to actuate the blocking member.
Magazine safeties, which block the trigger, are also employed in the Astra "Camper", "Cub" and "Firecat" pistols manufactured in Spain by Unceta and Co. S.A., but in these cases only a single-action firing mechanism is employed, and the spring has just one function, whereas the spring of the present invention performs a multiple of functions.
Trigger-cocking mechanisms, so-called because the hammer is cocked by the trigger, are used in what are commonly known as "double-action" pistols, which have a pivoted hammer that is engaged by a draw-bar connected to the trigger so that the hammer is first cocked as the trigger is pulled and then released to fire a cartridge in the chamber. Single-action pistols, on the other hand, are those in which the trigger performs the single function of releasing the hammer, which must first be cocked directly by hand. Some guns are designed to be fired only in double-action, some only in single-action, and others in either mode. The present invention is applicable to guns designed to be fired in double-action, whether by itself or in addition to single-action. Pistols capable of being fired in single-action as well as in double-action are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,464,427 to G. A. Wilson and in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,722,358.
In U.S. Pat. No. 885,436 to C. P. Clement, a single spring is employed which functions both as a trigger-return spring and as a positioning spring by urging a link between the trigger and sear upward and forward. In this case, however, the trigger mechanism is not double-action, and the spring employed could not be used with a trigger-cocking draw-bar due to the amount of movement required in such an action. A spring similar to that shown in the Clement patent, but adapted for double-action, is employed in the Browning BDA .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol manufactured in West Germany. However, neither the Clement nor the Browning BDA springs function to activate a magazine safety.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,138,213 to A. Seidel shows a spring which acts both as a trigger spring and as a positioning spring for a connecting rod between the trigger and sear. However, the trigger mechanism is single-action, and the spring does not activate the magazine safety.
Accordingly, while trigger-blocking magazine springs, as well as multiple-function link or draw-bar springs have been employed before, none to my knowledge discloses a single trigger-mechanism spring which operates the entire linkage from returning the trigger to cocking the hammer, as well as to activate a magazine safety. The object of the present invention is therefore to provide a double-action trigger mechanism having a single spring which serves as the trigger-return spring, the magazine-safety spring and the draw-bar spring. A further and important object of the invention is to provide a magazine safety system in which the slide or breech-bolt of the gun is partially blocked when the cartridge magazine is removed preventing insertion of a cartridge into the chamber until the magazine is replaced, thereby permitting the slide to be retracted only far enough to determine whether or not the chamber is empty, but not far enough to allow a cartridge to be extracted if one is in the chamber, or to be chambered if the chamber is empty.